The Vietnam War, Vietnam And South Vietnam

Before Ky was born in 1959, Vietnam was divided into two states at the 17th parallel during the Geneva Conference of 1954. These two states were known as North Vietnam and South Vietnam. The North was governed by a Communist Party and the South was governed by the Republic of Vietnam. Since many of the people in the North feared the persecution from the Communist regime, nearly one million individuals fled for the South. Among these one million individuals was Ky’s family. By moving to the South, Ky’s family had to leave behind their home as well as the relatives who decided to stay in the North. Ky’s parents promised their family that they would eventually come back to their original home in the North once the national and general elections were held; however, this election never occurred due to the South Vietnamese President’s decision to refuse …show more content…
Nevertheless, there were many other events that occurred prior to the war and outside of the country which ultimately encouraged the war to take place. During the mid-1800’s, France took over Vietnam but eventually lost control over the country during World War II when Germany defeated the French and allowed Japan, their ally, to take over the country. Again, France quickly regains control of Vietnam just to lose control for a second time in 1945 when an uprising led by Communist, Ho Chi Mihn, occurred. As Ho Chi Mihn took control of the country, the people lost many of their freedoms, and the nation was divided into two, the North and South, Ho Chi Mihn taking control of the North until 1969. This reign of a Communist Party caused Ky and his family to flee that part of the country in hopes of finding a better life. Even after leaving the North, Ky recalls South Vietnam being extremely unstable as well because no government could remain in power for a long period of time between 1963 and